Other Interesting Facts


I chose this animal because you can find this bird in many places, and most people know what it is. The male Mallard is arguably the most iconic duck there is, with its green head, yellow bill, and bright orange feet. It is thought to be the most common duck on earth.

They are one of the largest ducks. Of course, this is kind of hard to determine definitively, since the Mallard has the tendency to interbreed with other ducks it is closely related to; they can actually produce fertile offspring. This also gives the offspring a mixture of color variation in their feathers. With many hybrid ducks, it becomes hard to distinguish between them with certainty.
Personal Photo of male Mallard swimming
When the male molts, he ends up losing his distinctive green head of feathers, but still has the white collar ring and rusty-brown chest. Both males and females are unable to fly after molting until they re-grow them in time for the fall migration.

The female has the louder and more distinctive "quack" than males. Male Mallards have more of a nasal quack that is much quieter. This noted, males and females together can make a lot of noise.

Mallards have become quite tolerant of humans. This can be seen by the number of Mallards living in urban areas, in much greater frequency than other ducks. 



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